2. Bundesliga Saturday Konferenz Preview: Team news and predicted lineups

Schalke will host Elversberg in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday afternoon in 2. Bundesliga. Elsewhere, four more teams in the top half of the standings will go head-to-head before the Topspiel in Kaiserslautern.  

Schalke vs. Elversberg

Schalke and Elversberg dropped precious points last week as SC Paderborn are now leading the race in 2. Bundesliga. The Traditionsverein saw their five-game winning streak ended in Karlsruhe with a 2-1 defeat.

Meanwhile, Elversberg only picked up a single point from their last two games since beating Greuther Fürth 6-0. Including in last season’s final matchday, Elversberg came away with 2-1 wins in both of their previous two visits to Veltins Arena.

Team News

Schalke’s wingback Adrian Gantenbein is suspended for five yellow cards. Talismanic Elversberg striker Younes Ebnoutalib will be expected to return to the lineup after playing only the second-half of last week’s 2-2 draw with Hannover.

Predicted Lineups

Schalke: Karius; Ayhan, Katic, Kurucay; Porath, El-Faouzi, Schallenberg, V. Becker - Wallentowitz, Karaman ©; Sylla

Elversberg: Kristof; Gyamerah, Pinckert ©, Rohr, Keidel; Condé, Poreba; Petkov, Conté, Zimmerschied; Ebnoutalib

Hannover 96 vs. SV Darmstadt 98

Hannover lost both at home and away to Darmstadt last season, but they will start their first head-to-head fixture of this campaign in a better league position. Christian Titz’s team played the last couple of matches away from home, but they have managed to amass four points.

On the other hand, Darmstadt are winless in the last four league encounters. Schalke were the only team to beat them in that run, but Florian Kohfeldt’s side reversed that score when they met in the second round of DFB-Pokal.

Team News

Apart from the long-term absentees, there are no new injuries in both camps.

Predicted Lineups

Hannover: Noll; Ghita, Tomiak, Nawrocki; Matsuda, Leopold ©, Oudenne; Bundu, Aseko Nkili, Chakroun; Källman

Darmstadt: Schuhen ©; Lopez, Pfeiffer, Maglica, Holland; Klefisch, Akiyama; Marseiler, Corredor; Lidberg, Hornby

Arminia Bielefeld vs. Karlsruher SC

Bielefeld ended their abysmal run with four points from the last two matches, and they started the matchday in ninth place. Having picked up three of their four wins in front of home support, the newly-promoted team will fancy another memorable afternoon at  SchücoArena.

As for Karlsruhe, they’re also on the right track with back-to-back league wins for the first time this season. After a big win in Fürth, Christian Eichner’s side ended Schalke’s spell at the top of the standings with a comeback win.

Team News

Both coaches are expected to keep the lineups with the improved results of the teams in recent weeks.

Predicted Lineups:

Bielefeld: Kersken; Lannert, Schneider, Großer, Felix, Handwerker; Momuluh, Corboz ©, Wörl; Sarenren Bazee, Grodowski

Karlsruhe: Bernat; Kobald, Rapp, Beifus; Pinto Pedrosa, Herold; Förster, Burnic, Wanitzek ©; Simic, Schleusener